The Man Who Smiled(10 Oct. 2010)

Lawyer Sten Torstenssen tells Wallander he believes his old father's death in a car crash was homicide but Wallander is reluctant to act until Sten is found hanged and the pathologist ... See full summary »

Storyline

Lawyer Sten Torstenssen tells Wallander he believes his old father's death in a car crash was homicide but Wallander is reluctant to act until Sten is found hanged and the pathologist claims that he was murdered. Sten's secretary shows Wallander a postcard of Africa with a text threatening the lives of father and son and wealthy philanthropist Harderberg, a client of Sten's, admits to also having received one. All were posted from the same hotel, apparently by industrialist Jurgen Nordfeldt, who survives an attempt to kill him. Nordfeldt had stumbled on a racket importing body parts from Africa which Wallander, helped by ex-cop Anders, now Harderberg's security guard, must resolve. Written by
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Kurt Wallander (Kenneth Branagh) continues to face difficulties, after leaving Ystad Municipality Police Force in the last episode, experiencing flashbacks of claiming a life in self-defense, and continuing his ongoing problems with his remaining family members, Povel Wallander (David Warner), his ailing disoriented father, and Linda Wallander (Jeany Spark), his rebellious daughter, who visits her Grandfather Povel at his nursing home, but hasn't been answering her father's messages.

This time around, Povel strikes Kurt in front of Linda, who pays a subsequent momentary visit to Kurt, before her taxicab arrives to transport her to her exiting train.

Wallander has been spending the remainder of his time away from the Police Force at a beach-side resort cottage in southern Skåne County, Sweden, at which the hospitable hostess, Anna (Sally Hurst), convinces Kurt to return to Ystad after an old friend asks Wallander to investigate his father's death after a vehicular mishap.

Police Chief Lisa Holgersson (Sadie Shimmin) offers to reinstate Wallander, by handing him his badge and weapon, while Anne-Britt Hoglund (Sarah Smart) agrees to investigate the incident, before reporting a three-legged kitchen chair discovered inside the boot of the automobile wreckage. Nyberg (Richard McCabe) is on hand to study the results of the autopsy, while Magnus Martinsson (Tom Hiddleston) claims the case as his own, but offering to allow Wallander to investigate his leads, after Kurt initially refuses to help, causing a suspected suicide or another possible murder of the one who sought Kurt's help.

Gustaf Torstensson (Roland Hedlund) and his son, Sten Torstensson (David Sibley), have been operating a law firm, specializing in Customs and Importing consultation, and having the wealthy philanthropist Alfred Harderberg (Rupert Graves) as their client. Berta Duner (Angela Thorne), Sten's secretary, tells Wallander that while Gustaf did most of his work for the Harderberg Foundation from his residence, Sten would spend most of his working hours at the office. Gustaf, Sten and Alfred have each received a postcard, dated July 08th, reading, "You will all die. You are worthless," and Berta retains an embossed envelope from Eider Duck Hotel.

Betty Laurensson (Sandra Voe) and husband, Hans Laurensson (John Rogan), operate Eider Duck Hotel, which Wallander visits, and where Betty and Hans remember Kurt as boy, who would vacation there with Povel. They also remember the Nordfeldts, who had visited in July. Elin Nordfeldt (Emma Griffiths Malin), a doctor, and niece of Jurgen Nordfeldt (Benedict Taylor), is scheduled to present a lecture in Town Hall this evening, discussing her and Jurgen's missions to the Sudan.

Wallander pays a visit to Harderberg Castle (which greatly resembles the setting of "Miss Marple: The Secret of Chimneys," also 2010) and meets Alfred and his employees, Sjølander (Kimmo Rajala), Harderberg's body guard, and Anders Ekman (Vincent Regan) Harderberg's assistant security guard and gatekeeper, a former police officer and old acquaintance of Wallander, who seeks Kurt's assistance to reinstate him to the Force, after accidentally slaying an innocent teenage girl in a vehicular-pedestrian accident resulting from a police chase.

Anders Ekman initially asks Kurt to socialize over drinks, but then follows Wallander from the police station to residence to deliver report, explaining that their situations have similarities and differences, but Ekman's prohibits him from reinstatement. Yet he continues to investigate leads through his capacity at Harderberg Castle to report to Wallander and his official team.

While Wallander continues his harsh flashbacks amid his family problems, he turns to tranquilizers, which cause violent side-effects, as he is seen demolishing his living room appliances upon returning to a power outage. Amid these types of maladies, Wallander attempts to compose a calm exterior, while investigating the two murders.

Berta accompanies Wallander to the Torstensson residence, for which Wallander holds a set of keys, to unlock a drawing room, to discover a collection of valuable iconic paintings along with a medical organ transplant container linked to Jurgen Nordfeldt's plastics company.

But after discussing the postcards with, and learning from a very nervous Elin Nordfeldt that victims are being slain to harvest $120,000 for their organs, a car bomb explodes, claiming a third victim, and when Wallander follows a lead to a trailer park, birth 22, he discovers another, a fourth attempted murder victim, who possibly does not survive, as the condition is not reported.

After uncovering evidence of shipments of human body parts of twelve victims slain for the money, Wallander heads for a showdown with the assistance of former officer Anders Ekman, all leading to more murder or bloodshed in self-defense, so it's rather easy to loose track of the body count here, but this episode contains at least the five new murders in and around Ystad plus the overseas murders and the additional bodies turning up before the final credits roll.

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